The Dance Chronicles 01-What is proprioception and how does it relate to dance learning?

Imagine standing at the edge of an unknown space, unaware that solid ground lies just ahead—how do we find the courage to take that first step forward? What changes within us when we do? Our breath may catch, our posture may shift, and our movement may become tentative or instinctive. This act of stepping into uncertainty reveals something fundamental about proprioception and the dancer.

Proprioception is not only the awareness of space around us, but also a deep sense of how our bodies exist, move, and relate within that space. It is what allows dancers to move with clarity, confidence, and conviction—whether in motion or stillness. Often framed in terms of spatial navigation, proprioceptive awareness goes further: it enriches the dancer’s capacity to be present and responsive, even in moments of stillness. It transforms stillness from absence of movement into a powerful state of listening and readiness.

To me, dance and movement are not only about taking up space by moving through it, but about the profound experience of being moved—by the space itself, by energy, by others. This reciprocal relationship between the dancer and space challenges traditional notions of agency in movement.

I am particularly inspired by the work of Marina Abramović, whose live performances often rely on the heightened spatial awareness shared between performer and audience. In her pieces, the body becomes a vessel—a dancer—not through choreographed steps, but through her acute sensitivity to the environment and the people within it. Her presence and awareness allow the performance to come into being. It is this kind of embodied spatial intelligence that I believe is central to the dancer’s art.